Pages converts to Doc with no issues. Unless you have a totally complex layout, there's bound to be problems. But then, there's also issues when opening a complex word document on another pc with another printer installed ... it's always a mess.

I did look at docs to go, but its reviews are average to poor, with indications of hidden charges.

No hidden charges, and it is the best by far available now on the iPad. I have used d2g for many years (ever since the Palm Pilot days), and it is a very mature program. It is the only app that can do Office 2007 docs (import and export). It is also a dream with Dropbox... now my documents are all synced with ease on my iPhone, iPad, Netbook and desktop...

If you just want to view docs, Goodreader works great, but if you want to edit then d2g is the way to go....

I will be creating them as basic documents, as I will then use the Book creator template and run them through calibre to create LRF, EPUB Etc for my site, or as the basic docs will be uploaded to smashwords.

I might give pages a try as I also use it on the Mac at work.

As for my comments on docs 2 go, I was only re-itterating what I have seen on the ratings on Itunes. And incidentally they mention hidden charges when using it with Drop Box.

I understand, but no hidden charges .... Dropbox or otherwise.... unless of course you choose the larger storage Dropbox option (I don't) but that has nothing to do with d2g..... You get 2 gig free storage with Dropbox, and that is a lot of Word docs

Just a free tip, If you plan to do a lot of editing, you will regret getting Pages. Many try pages and then get d2g because Pages just cannot keep the formatting straight... good luck...

i'm with bremen.. pages is like a kid's plastic toybox word-processor. docs2go is a sturdy metal craftsman toolbox filled with professional tools. i've used docs2go for years on my iphone, picked up pages when the ipad came out and was glad when docs2go finally was updated for the ipad.

even if you only use it for viewing word (and excel) documents docs2go will give you a more faithful rendition of the original document and lose less formatting than pages, numbers and keynote do. i have experimented with dozens of technical documents. apple seems interested in only bare MS compatibility over pushing their own iWork applications. this would be great if most of the world used iWork apps on the desktop, but they don't.

as for "hidden" charges. the only thing someone could mean is the in-app store allows you to buy/upgrade from the basic version to the professional version with a one-time charge. the net price is exactly the same if you bought the pro version to begin with, it's nice they don't decide to charge you extra. while i can recommend the pro version, if you're unsure of your needs and want to save a few bucks, get the basic version and upgrade at a later time if you feel the need. you can read the product descriptions in the store to see the differences between the two.

there is no app for iOS that is going to equal full desktop versions of word, excel and powerpoint, but D2G is pretty close. the iWork apps have a long way to go.

Thanks scottjl, I forgot about the upgrade path, that may have been what someone was talking about.... The full Pro version is $15... for that you get compatibility with Word, Excel and Powerpoint. And others as well..... I don't use the PowerPoint to do anything but view... but the Word and Excel parts edit very nicely.

Please understand you are not going to get the full MS Office experience for $15.... but it is darn good... I wish MS would make a MS Office "lite" for iPad... but if they did it would be overpriced and the bottom line is they will never do it.....

I can't comment on the other solutions which I haven't tried, but I've been using Pages almost daily going back and forth from Word.

I'm in the midst of revising a 150+ page agreement that was originally a Word doc and I have moved to Pages. I have been extracting 1 or 2 page excerpts from that, revising those and then distributing them to mostly laptop users who often make their own changes and send those back to me...

It has worked out just fine.

Numbers is a whole different story though as it's still missing the ability to export to Excel. Luckily I'm not generating or editing spreadsheets at the moment.